Over Father's Day I received a touching
memoir by a father he resolved before having a son to be different
than his own father, who spent no time, or what today we'd call "quality
time," with him as a child. I made many such resolutions in my
youth, inspired by my father both negatively (I didn't want to be
like him in temperament and similar ways) and positively (he didn't
want any of his sons to become miners, and cautioned us about the
harshness of military life [he was a World War I infantry veteran]).

Mother also joined the chorus of voices
advising us to be unlike Dad be godly and faithful, not agnostic;
be kind, not mean; love rather than hate your mother and your wife
(it wasn't until years into their retirement that we sons concluded
that Dad did love our mother and, for that matter, she loved him in
anything beyond dutifully).

In all those ways I probably have succeeded,
though I often see some of his traits, especially bad temper, in myself,
and especially when driving and when dealing with unknown people by
telephone, when dealing with bad service, where I often "lose
it" (and need to continue repenting). But in two significant
ways my Dad could run rings around me or "out-succeeded"
me. 1. Mostly because of Mother's religious scruples, his marriage
succeeded, and lasted nearly 70 years. Mine lasted barely 14 rough
years. 2. And this is the one in which Dad himself succeeded: materially.
At my present age he was able to retire without having to worry (though
worry, I'm sure, he did) about his future security.

That success
was not entirely his doing, of course the fact that no one in
the family had suffered expensive medical conditions or injuries was
beyond his control. The fact that the United Mine Workers provided
good health insurance and his work in the mines kept steady until
he was on the cusp of retirement were also beyond his control. But
his hard work did pay off and got rewarded. He turned a small rough-hewn
farm into a relative showplace that turned into a valuable asset in
his retirement. And perhaps his hard work combined with Irish/German
genes enabled him to survive and keep active for more than 30 years
of retirement, past age 92, though suffering from silicosis (coalminer's
"black lung").

I value travel more highly than any other
type of byproduct of financial stability, and have been able to do
enough that I can't complain. Mom and Dad didn't care much for travel,
but cared more about a nice home, (in Dad's case, a good and nice
car), good health, and a respectable and respectful family. In all
those counts they both ended their lives having achieved almost everything
they valued.

—Webmaster
Jon Kennedy

Top ten caddie comments

10. Golfer: "I think I'm going to
drown myself in the lake." Caddy: "Think you can keep
your head down that long?"

9. Golfer: "I'd move heaven and earth
to break 100 on this course. Caddy: "Try heaven. You've
already moved most of the earth.

8. Golfer: "Do you think my game
is improving?" Caddy: "Yes, Sir; you miss the ball
much closer now."

7. Golfer: "Do you think I can get
there with a 5 iron?"Caddy: "Eventually."

6. Golfer: "You've got to be the
worst caddy in the world. Caddy: "I don't think so, Sir. That
would be too much of a coincidence."

5. Golfer: "Please stop checking
your watch all the time. It's too much of a distraction." Caddy: "It's not a watch. It's a compass."

3. Golfer: "Do you think it's a sin
to play on Sunday?" Caddy: "The way you play, Sir, it's
a sin on any day."

2. Golfer: "This is the worst course
I've ever played on." Caddy: "This isn't the golf course.
We left that an hour ago."

AND...the Number 1 best caddy comment...

Golfer: "That can't be my ball, it's
too old."
Caddy: "It's been a long time since we teed off, Sir."

 Sent by Mike Harrison

Thought
for today

I can forgive Alfred Nobel for having
invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented
the Nobel Prize.

George Bernard Shaw

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